


Not for the Faint of Heart

by imaginary_iby



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Easter, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-21 15:36:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3697640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginary_iby/pseuds/imaginary_iby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny <i>knows</i> Steve.  So he’s not sure why he’s surprised when he goes outside to find Steve halfway up a ladder, nose buried in the leafy foliage of a tall, damp, most likely spider-infested tree.  Steve keeps a nice yard, but still, every leaf is spider-infested until Danny has verified otherwise.</p><p>AKA: the one where Steve, infamous Ninja-SEAL, is responsible for hiding Grace's Easter eggs in the garden.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not for the Faint of Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Danny's line in 5.12, about he and Grace having an Easter egg hunt at Steve's house. Such a delightful tidbit. :) Beware ridiculous amounts of goofy fluff!

It seems a simple enough request. _Hide these outside, will ya’ babe?_  Simple. Take Easter eggs outside, place in various nooks and crannies, thereby fulfilling a basic and time-honored tradition.

But the thing is, Danny _knows_ Steve. So he’s not sure why he’s surprised when he goes outside to find Steve halfway up a ladder, nose buried in the leafy foliage of a tall, damp, most likely spider-infested tree. Steve keeps a nice yard, but still, every leaf is spider-infested until Danny has verified otherwise.

“Steven,” Danny says, slowly, deliberately, ready for anything.

Steve’s head whips around, his face a sure sign that he’s spoiling for an argument. Their arguments at home are generally about separating the whites, and can usually be settled with a kiss, but the way Steve says, “Yes, Daniel?” in that faux-innocent, falsely-patient tone of his, has Danny rising to the challenge.

“What the hell are you _doing!_?”

A bird takes exception to the volume of Danny’s question, squawking and flapping out of Steve’s tree. Sometimes Danny wishes he could do the same, but he knows he’d miss the big lug. Even if said lug does currently have sap smeared across his nose, and is trying to hide a large Lindt bunny in the crook of a ten-foot tree limb.

“I’m hiding the Easter eggs, Danny.” Steve cocks his head to the side, just so, hair an envious designer-mess. “Like you asked me to.”

And oh no, Danny wasn’t born yesterday, he’s not getting reeled in by that doe-eyed expression. Steve may be a freaky ninja SEAL, but he’s still got a basic grasp of how Easter is supposed to go. Mostly because he’s been learning from Gracie for the last five years.

“She’s going to have to call in SEAL Team 7 to get that egg, you goof. Take it down so we can put it somewhere human.”

Steve harrumphs, whether at the order or at the notion of Grace ever needing any SEAL but him. Danny doesn’t know, but since he’s just realized that there are zero eggs left in the basket he’d given Steve, he’s got bigger fish to fry.

“You’ve hidden them all already?”

Steve lifts his chin, crosses his arms, as comfortable on the ladder as on the earth. “Yes.”

Danny sighs, because seriously, when did this become his lot in life. A cursory glance around the garden yields no sign of anything eggy, not even a glint of foil in the weak, rising sun. Danny definitely doesn’t like the look of the huge stick that’s poking straight up out of the ocean, about forty feet in. A small plastic container appears to be tied to the top.

“Please tell me you did not hide an egg out there?” He really, really needs Steve to say no to this.

“No,” Steve scoffs, and Danny puts a big tick in the win column until Steve carries on with, “It would melt. It’s that bracelet I bought her last week. And it’s not hidden, I’ve wedged the stick between two big rocks. It’s more of a…” At this, Steve fidgets. “It’s a challenge.”

“A challenge.”

“Yep.” Steve nods so enthusiastically, Danny has to fight to keep a smile off his face. No. No, this is serious, this is his daughter, and at no point did he consent to raising some sort of Bear Grylls variant.

“You want to make my daughter – your beloved Gracie – complete some kind of insane Navy SEAL obstacle course, all to earn her holiday sugar coma.”

“Don’t you think you’re being a bit dramatic, Danno?”

Danny’s never admitted to that before, and he’s not about to start now.

“Look,” Steve says, all reason and patience. “You told me she doesn’t believe in Father Christmas anymore, yeah? So, it makes sense that she doesn’t believe in the Easter Bunny either.”

None of this is news to Danny, but it makes his heart hurt a little nevertheless. A tiny part of him had been hoping that Easter would still hold the magic of years gone by.

“So I figured,” Steve continues, “Easter might not be as much fun for her, this year, and that maybe we should do something else instead. You know? Mix things up a bit.”

Damn it. Damn it all to hell. How is Danny supposed to stay annoyed when faced with that level of sweetness.

“Come down here, you.” Danny crooks a finger when Steve hesitates, eyeing the Lindt bunny as though he’s not sure if he’s supposed to take it with him. “Leave the bunny,” Danny says. “Get down here.”

Steve adjusts a frond, covering the bunny completely, before bounding down the ladder and across the yard. He’s barely come to a stop before Danny is hooking an arm around his shoulders, reeling him down for a kiss.

“Mmm,” Steve murmurs, nipping at Danny’s bottom lip. “Good idea, yeah?”

He’s so pleased with himself, and Danny can only huff. “When they inevitably melt, because hello, this is Hawaii, you’re in charge of clean-up.”

Steve smiles, luminescent. “Don’t worry Danny, I tied them all to individual ice-packs.”

Of course he did. Danny lets that slide by, because, well, what else is he supposed to do.

“If Grace breaks an arm, Steven, I swear to-“

“Danny, I’m not about to let her get hurt. Besides, I’ve got everything set up.”

Before Danny knows what’s happening, he’s tucked under Steve’s arm, being turned to face the outdoor dining table. A plate of muffins rests under a delicately curved glass cover. A pitcher of juice sits by its side, but that’s where all signs of civilization end.

Danny can cope with the rubbery garden gloves, and the swim suit makes sense, but he slides his gaze over the short coil of climbing rope as though he doesn’t see it. He’s just not ready to deal.

The front door knocks shut, swift feet flying across the dining room floor to deliver an effervescent Grace. “Danno,” she cheers, launching at him, wrapping an arm around him, reaching out for Steve with the other. “Uncle Steve! I’m here!”

Danny takes a second to bask, wrapped up in the joy of hugging his two favorite people, before whispering, “I want her back in one piece, Steve, in one piece.”

Thirty minutes later – seriously, his daughter is an Irish Wolfhound and he never even knew it – Grace is flopped on the grass, chocolate haul safe in the cool of the house. 

Danny watches her raise her hand, flicking her wrist as her sparkly new bracelet glints in the sun. She looks happy, content, like a nap is on the horizon – turns out that racing around the yard and scaling trees with a Navy SEAL is enough to exhaust even a thirteen year old.

The lanai door slides open and shut, and Danny feels Steve come to stand behind him. He nestles back into the long line of Steve’s body, humming happily when Steve settles warm hands on his hips. 

“Turned out okay, yeah?” Steve asks, breath tickling Danny’s ear.

“Hhmm.” Danny shakes his head, ho-hum, so-so, it’ll do - but he knows that he’s radiating happiness. He twists, tilts his head up for a kiss, and he’s just about to lick at Steve’s bottom lip when Steve says, “Just wait till next year.”


End file.
